Please Stop Over Glorifying Kevin Cash

Recently, the baseball writers came out with their candidates for the American League Manager of the Year award. Among them was Tampa Bay Rays bench boss Kevin Cash. Since becoming the Rays manager Cash has won the award in 2020 and 2021. He’s also been a finalist in 2018 and 2019 as well as this year. Given the number of times that Cash has been a finalist, they might as well call it the “Kevin Cash Award.” The writers need to start nominating other managers besides Cash.

We Get It Cash Is Great At Managing The Low Budget Rays

At this point, everybody knows that Kevin Cash does an excellent job managing the low-budget Tampa Bay Rays. He has consistently mastered a job that no other manager in the franchise’s history could. Cash can get the most out of every player, which has resulted in on-field success. How much more do we need to glorify the fact that he is great at his managerial job? This is the equivalent of your colleague at work showing you every single day how great he is at his job. The writers don’t need to nominate him anymore for people to know how great he is at managing that team.

The Rays Weren’t As Great As Their Record Indicates

Many people will point out that the Rays tied the record for the best start to a regular season. They opened the 2023 season by going 13-0 before finally losing to the Toronto Blue Jays. However, when you look more closely at the games, all of Tampa’s wins came against the Tigers, Nationals, Athletics, and Red Sox. Oakland, Boston, and Washington would finish the 2023 season in last place. If it hadn’t been for how dreadful the rest of the AL Central was outside Minnesota, Detroit would have finished in last place in just about any other division. Those wins to open the season were hardly impressive.

Tampa Bay had been leading the AL East for the entire first half of the regular season. However, after the all-star break, Tampa completely nose-dived. They would go 8-16 and relinquish their lead in the AL East to the Baltimore Orioles and never get it back. This included opening the month of July on a seven-game losing streak. While injuries and Wander Franco’s situation were a big factor, Kevin Cash’s teams used to know how to overcome that kind of adversity. However, it seemed like Tampa was overwhelmed once the calendar turned to July.

While Tampa made the postseason despite all the turmoil surrounding them, 51 of their 99 wins came against teams with a record below .500. The Rays only had a record of 48-44 against teams with a .500 or better record. Tampa was also somewhat pushed around in one-run games. They only had a record of 22-25 in those games as well. If it weren’t for their favorable schedule and most of the American League not being competitive, Tampa might’ve completely missed the postseason.

Rocco Baldelli Was More Deserving Of A Nomination

Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was more deserving of a nomination than Cash this season. Like the Rays, the Minnesota Twins are also a small-market team. Minnesota also hadn’t been to the postseason since 2020. Despite a down year from Carlos Correa and various injuries to other key players, Baldelli led that team to their first AL Central title since 2020. However, despite all that Baldelli accomplished this season, the writers once again decided to over-glorify Kevin Cash and Tampa Bay.

Please Stop Shoving Kevin Cash Down Our Throats

Kevin Cash is no doubt a great manager. He certainly has been able to get the most out of every roster he’s given no matter who the Rays lose. However, the Rays weren’t as good as their record indicates when you take a closer look. While Tampa overcame a lot, they certainly had a lot of luck this season. There are other managers who do just as good of a job as he does on a limited budget, Rocco Baldelli comes to mind. Baseball doesn’t need to keep overstating how great of a job Kevin Cash does every year.

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